Wreck This Ship
by Hope's Voice
Summary: Nico has been missing for days. Will's imagination runs away from him, and a cat that likes Will too much seemingly appears out of nowhere. (Post- The Blood of Olympus)
1. Chapter 1

**Wreck This Ship**

 **Summary:** Will re-enacted the entire scene in his head again, this time from an uninterested Nico's point of view. He could almost see his own too-eager smile and sweaty hands. Nico's revulsion was clear as day as he tried to think of a way to let Will down easy. _Uh, sorry dude. I'm not gay._ Oh gods, didn't Nico originally live in the 1940's? Will was pretty sure it was illegal to be having any homosexual feelings back then.

 **Status:** Chapter 1 of 2

 **Pairing:** Nico di Angelo/Will Solace

 **A/N:** this turned out longer than I expected it to be. 2nd chapter should be out shortly. hopefully.

title is reminiscent of Florence + the Machine's "Ship To Wreck"

my tumblr is ensemble-of-dolphins. I'm not really a solangelo blog or even a pjo blog at the moment. but feel free to send me solangelo fic prompts if you want. (nsfw prompts also welcomed - i haven't started down that path yet with this ship though)

* * *

The day began off simply enough – one of the demigods in the infirmary were complaining about swelling in one of their body parts and Will was roused from sleep by some of the less experienced medics. He grumbled, throwing his bed sheets onto the ground as he went to check on the patient. He didn't have anything against being a medic. It was just that he hadn't had a good amount of sleep for a while and he really, _really_ needed some uninterrupted sleep.

Maybe he could go ask Clovis of Hypnos' cabin to help him out.

After being disturbed from his rest, there seemed to be a never-ending line of demigods in the infirmary who were all too happy to file complaints. Will tended their wounds and adjusted their beds patiently as he listened to the complaints.

Finally it was the afternoon, and Will was the first one out of the infirmary. It probably wasn't setting the best example for the younger demigods of his cabin, but at this point he just needed _out_. And he hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch. (He purposely missed dinner and his cabin sing-along in an attempt to catch up on sleep. Gods, he was _tired_ after those excessive shifts at the infirmary.)

Apparently the gods didn't want to give him a break today. After he offered his share of the lunch to the Olympian gods, he sat down at the Apollo table and chewed slowly. Maybe he could miss two cabin sing-alongs in a row. He could already see Chiron's disappointed face. But who cared if he was the head counsellor? He wouldn't be much of a counsellor anyway if he fell asleep in the middle of a sing-along.

Before he could finish up the rest of his lunch and head back to bed, Percy had sat down in front of him. The son of Poseidon was cheery as ever. "Hey there, Will," he greeted, shoving an entire piece of steak down his mouth and chewing with his mouth open.

He didn't even have the energy to be slightly irritated. "What," he asked, but it came out sounding more like a statement rather than a question.

"I was just wondering," Percy said as he continued to chew on the steak, "have you seen Nico today?"

Will was about to reply that he had been stuck in the infirmary since forever thank you very much when he suddenly realized that he had definitely not seen Nico all day. Or yesterday. Or the day before that. The last time he had seen him, Will had been trying to coax Nico to stay over at the infirmary. He had completely forgotten about it due to the fact that A) he had never seen Nico again and B) been metaphorically drowning in the substantial amount of work he was given.

Sleep suddenly seemed incredibly unimportant, and Will studied Percy carefully. While the demigod was all cheery and upbeat, the worry lines around his eyes spoke of concern. He chose his words with caution. "No, I haven't. What's up?" His tone was steady and nonchalant, but his heartbeat had picked up at the thought of horrible scenarios befalling the son of Hades.

Percy swallowed down the food he was chewing, now serious. "You were the last one to talk to him," Percy said in a tone that was half-accusing. Before Will had the time to feel offended, he sighed and corrected his statement. "Hey, I don't mean to be laying it down on you, but we're all really worried and he seems to, ah…like you best." For some reason a light blush appeared on Percy's cheeks. "Anyway I was just wondering if you've been hiding him out in the infirmary…for, um, _reasons_." Percy's emphasis was suggestive enough that it made Will frown and flush red at the thought.

"Of course not!" the son of Apollo said loudly, causing other demigods to glance at the two of them curiously. "I haven't seen him since the day before yesterday." A thought came to his mind – something that Nico had announced to him and a couple of other demigods right before they walked into warzone. It made him feel nauseous to think of it. "Did Nico leave?" he asked quietly, feeling a clenching at his heart at the thought. He had been so sure that he had convinced Nico to stay at Camp Half-Blood. (It had partially been because Will had had a crush on the moody boy since _forever_ and couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again without even making a move.)

Percy grimaced at his words. "I think so. The last time he spoke to me…" Percy cleared his throat, the blush coming back to his cheeks for a reason that Will didn't understand. "I mean the last time we spoke objectively about where he was going, he told me he was going to Camp Jupiter. Apparently Reyna called him there for some business or closure or something." Percy shrugged and Will felt wary. He had known that Reyna and Nico had travelled together for some time (and don't forget Coach Hedge!), but did they have _that_ kind of relationship? The more he thought about it, the more depressed he felt. Maybe he had something going on with Reyna the entire time and Will brutishly assumed Nico could ever be interested in him and scared him off with some aggressive pick-up lines.

Will re-enacted the entire scene in his head again, this time from an uninterested Nico's point of view. He could almost see his own too-eager smile and sweaty hands. Nico's revulsion was clear as day as he tried to think of a way to let Will down easy. _Uh, sorry dude. I'm not gay._ Oh gods, didn't Nico originally live in the 1940's? Will was pretty sure it was illegal to be having any homosexual feelings back then.

The other demigod was still talking. "…but I IM'd Reyna this morning and she said that he had never shown up." He looked at Will expectantly.

He took a breath and tried not to show how the thought of Reyna and Nico in a romantic relationship together really freaked him out. "When Nico and I spoke on the battlefield, he said he was planning to lone wolf his way out of the two camps," Will said calmly. "I thought I managed to convince him out of it." He also thought that Nico might have been romantically interested in him. Apparently Will was really bad at these things. He wished he was a son of Aphrodite and gifted with charm-speak so then this whole _romancing your love interest_ thing wouldn't be so hard.

"Yeah, me too," Percy mumbled. Before Will could ask him what exactly he meant by that, he was already standing up. "Well, update me if you hear anything about him, all right?" Will nodded solemnly and Percy waved goodbye, heading back to his table.

Now not only was he tired, upset, and confused – he was also internally kicking himself for making such a bold move on Nico. He really freaked him out with his Big Gay Feelings. He wondered what Nico was thinking now. Probably _thank the gods that I'm away from that oblivious demigod._ But he hadn't gone to Reyna straight afterwards – or maybe Reyna was hiding the fact that Nico was in Camp Jupiter.

Yeah, that was probably it. Nico probably shadow-travelled all the way to Camp Jupiter (gods, Will _told_ him it was dangerous to shadow-travel in his state) the moment they had parted and told Reyna all about it. The two probably had a good laugh about it before Reyna proposed that Nico stay in Camp Jupiter. Now that he thought about it, maybe Reyna and Nico were having a steamy make-out session in whatever the Roman version of the cabins were…

Will lost his appetite. He dumped the rest of his food in the fire and headed straight for the infirmary. Now that these horrible, heartbreaking thoughts were occupying his mind, he found himself less sleepy with every step. He had set his mind: he was going to work until every darn demigod in the infirmary was happy enough that they wanted to stay there forever. (Which was actually quite an impossible task, considering how the Ares kids drove everyone crazy with their constant itch to be moving.) That way, he would forget about Nico and Reyna and their happy romantic life together.

He didn't need romance anyway. He just needed to pine after a sullen dark haired boy that always stole his breath every time he looked his way…

Will gritted his teeth and marched on straight into the infirmary where he was greeted by the sounds of a wailing girl and panicked medics. The medics all looked relieved when they saw that Will had entered and hurriedly rushed to his side. "Solace! We need some help over here!"

"I can see that," the son of Apollo replied dryly. He headed over to the girl, noticing that she had an extensive scratch mark that went down the length of her arm. He winced at the sight. "Did you give her ambrosia or nectar yet?" he asked one of the medics.

Her eyes went wide. "About that…," she began. "Um…we're sort of out of stock…"

Will frowned, wondering how this predicament came to be. "Have you contacted the Big House? Hermes should deliver some within moments."

Another medic spoke up. "We did. Hermes is off radar and can't be reached at the moment. We have to deal with this the mortal way and um, we don't know how." He winced a little at the end like he expected Will to lash out at him. He had been in a grumpy mood lately, and the others had took notice.

Will only sighed. "All right, fine." He didn't like fixing up wounds the mortal way, but they had no choice at this point. Plus, this really helped Will keep his mind off Nico and Reyna as he dabbed the demigod girl's wound with disinfectant. The other medics watched in silence until one of the other patients called them over, and eventually it left Will and the girl alone.

"That should be it," Will said when he was done. The girl looked at him, eyes full of tears. He had never seen this demigod before so he assumed that she was new. "Just don't put pressure on it," he told her, keeping his tone kind. "May I ask you where you got the injury?"

The girl sniffled. "There was a cat."

Will frowned. As far as he knew, there were no cats at Camp Half-Blood. "Pardon me?"

"I saw a cat and I grabbed it and it scratched me." She rubbed at her eyes with her good hand. "Stupid cat!" she said out loud and then grabbed down at her injured arm harshly. She cried out in pain but didn't let go.

"Hey! Whoa there!" Will firmly but gently removed her hand from the wound. So she was the self-destructive kind of person, which reminded him of a certain missing demigod… "Okay, we're going to find you a bed here. Do _not_ touch your wound, all right? When we stock up on ambrosia and nectar, we'll make the injury go away and you won't have to worry about strange cats." He paused. "Though you probably shouldn't grab wild cats in the future."

The girl let out a noise of indignation. Before she could speak, Will asked her, "Where did you see the cat?"

"In the forest," she said glumly as she plopped down on the bed. "Are you going to find it? Tell it I hate him."

She was going to be one grumpy demigod, Will mused. Almost like Nico… He shook the thought away. He was not going to think of Nico anymore. It was just a silly unrequited crush – which he had been sporting since the first day he saw Nico in Camp Half-Blood. "Yeah, I'm going to find the cat to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else," Will told her. "Let the others take care of you while I'm gone, all right?"

The demigod's arms were crossed and she mumbled something under her breath that Will didn't completely catch, but he thought he heard the word "incompetent". A smile appeared on his lips before he could stop himself and he quickly headed out of the infirmary and to the forest in search of a wild cat.

When he had entered the forest, he suddenly realized he forgot to ask her what the cat looked like.

Of course, there was probably only one cat in the forest, but a description of it would have been helpful.

So instead, Will spent the first five minutes traipsing around the edges of the forest in search of a nondescript cat, which was harder than he expected.

Finally, he heard rustling in the trees above and glanced up just in time to catch sight of dark eyes looking at him. The creature emerged from the foliage, and Will could see a black cat looking down at him almost curiously. "Here, kitty," Will hummed softly, hoping that his voice would lure the cat down.

The cat meowed almost indignantly at him and then pounced down from the tree in front of Will. It took a few steps forward and then stopped, tail flicking behind it.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Will said, crouching down a little. He had no idea how to lure cats without getting his eyeballs scratched out, but hopefully being a son of Apollo had some sort of perk over animals. Maybe he could entice the animal with a lyre or something like his father could. Unfortunately, he only had a Harmonica on him at the moment, which he couldn't play very well. "Come here," he said.

The cat meowed again and took a few more steps toward him. Now they were close enough that Will could snatch the cat up. Instead, he held out his palm gingerly, hoping that the cat wouldn't strike him and run away. "Come on, come with me. We're going to find you a real home."

He didn't even have enough time to finish the words before the cat padded close enough to nuzzle its' head against the back of his hand. He held back a noise of surprise, feeling the soft fur on his skin and the rumbling purrs of the cat.

Gently, Will brought his other hand to pet the cat. Its' purrs became louder and it arched into his touch. An unbidden smile came to Will's lips. "Seems like you like me, huh?" he said. "More than some other demigod who ran away without even telling me that he wasn't interested."

With that, he scooped the cat in his arms. It was surprisingly heavy for something so small, and Will was glad that the cat didn't turn violent. Lifting the cat up, he began to carry it over to the Big House where he would decide what to do with it next.

 **TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Summary:** He kept talking like he had no filter. Thankfully his bed was at the very back of the cabin and the only other demigods nearby paid him no heed. "This guy, no, demigod – gods, he's all kinds of beautiful, but he doesn't know it. I met him in camp a few years ago, but I don't think he knows me at all. And I've spent all these years pining after him like a pathetic loser." He laughed self-deprecatingly. The cat mewed softly, putting out a paw to brush against Will's ear.

 **Status:** Chapter 2 of 3

 **Author's Note:** this took longer than I expected.

Extended this fic to 3 chapters! I didn't want to severely overbalance the chapters it with a very long chapter 2.

wrote most of this while listening to Saint Motel's "Hands Up Robert" which may fit Will's jump-to-conclusions mood for this chapter (or what he's assuming)

reviews would be very kind :)

* * *

The head counsellors were playing a game of _Where's Waldo? Nico Edition_ when Will entered the Big House. A table had been set up along with miscellaneous items and assorted maps of America. A picture of Nico complete with his signature scowl laid on the table. For a team that was attempting to work together, they sure were adamant in getting their opinion across by loud shouting. In the back of his mind, Will wondered why he wasn't invited. He was a cabin counsellor after all.

Maybe that was because everyone somehow knew Will scared Nico off by coming on too strong, and they didn't want him to ruin this anymore than he already had. Yeah, that was probably it. Will was just too oblivious to see that he had scared Nico enough that the boy would run miles away from him. The image of Reyna and Nico kissing invaded his thoughts again and he subconsciously hugged the cat a little tighter. It let out a mew of protest but otherwise didn't fight back.

Percy was the first one to see him and frowned at the cat in his arms.

"I found a cat," automatically came out of Will's mouth. Percy frowned, tilted his head and pointed at his ear. The cacophony around them was making it difficult for him to hear Will's words, and he repeated it again at a loud shout. "I FOUND A CAT."

"What does that have to do with finding Nico?" someone shouted back. (He was half-certain it was Clarisse.)

Nico this, Nico that – he was kind of sick of hearing about Nico at this point. It wasn't that he hated Nico at this point – quite the opposite really – but every time he thought about the other boy, an image of Reyna protectively wrapping her arms around him and glaring at Will appeared in his mind. Not pleasant at all. "I was just wondering if any of the new demigods bought animals with them. It already injured someone. And we're out of nectar and ambrosia," Will said in an afterthought.

"We'll go restock," Connor and Travis called out at the same time. They flashed grins at each other that made Will suspicious before they rushed out of the battlefield that was the head counsellors in the Big House.

Annabeth was frowning at the cat that was now squirming in his arms. "I don't think any of the newer demigods bought any pets with them," she said. "And if they even managed to cross into Camp Half-Blood, Peleus probably would have reduced them to ashes." She said this all matter-of-factly as if the thought of deep-fried pets and mourning baby-faced demigods didn't bother her too much.

Will grimaced, and the cat let out another meow. It buried its' face into Will's chest. "Anyway, we can't have wild non-magical animals running around especially if it's hurting people. Someone should take it to the animal shelter," she said.

The cat purred against his chest, its' tail curling around Will's arm. "I'm keeping it," Will decided on whim. Annabeth frowned at him and looked like she wanted to say something otherwise, but he continued, "You guys are a little occupied right now with finding Nico. Who knows – it might turn out to be Hera's trick in the next big prophecy. I'll deal with the cat for now."

"Wait," Will heard someone say just as he was turning to leave. "Hey – why don't you help us out with this? Percy says you and Nico were kind of close."

He internally cringed at the words 'close' and then turned around to face the table of head counsellors. Some of them looked hopefully at Will and he wondered what he could say to make them leave him alone. Apparently they didn't know that Will had scared off Nico, and he wasn't willing to reveal that piece of information.

The words came out of his mouth before he knew it. "I think that you should ask Reyna where he is." Before any of them could say that they had already contacted Reyna, Will continued, "I mean _really_ ask her. My guess is that he's in the Roman camp, if you know what I mean." That voice was not his – malicious, hurt, and striking out at innocent people who frankly were confused by Will's uncharacteristic behaviour.

The cat meowed into the silence, paws grasping at his arms but otherwise staying in place.

Will took a breath, exhaled, and then took in the myriad of expressions scattered amongst the head counsellors. "Yeah," he finally huffed, feeling the pressure in his chest tighten. "So that's what I think, if you really have to know." Without even clarifying the reason why he felt this way, he turned and left the Big House. Despite the fact that he had to return to the infirmary, Will decided to cut straight back to his cabin. There were only a few demigods talking to each other and they absentmindedly waved at him when he entered, not even taking a look at the cat that was now silent in his arms.

He walked over to his bare bed and placed the cat on the floor beside the bed, flopping down unceremoniously onto the mattress with a loud sigh. He felt like a child throwing a tantrum just because someone he liked didn't like him back. He should have expected it – Nico was born in a time period where being anything besides cissexual and heterosexual was a crime. He was stupid to think that Nico would be that marginal percentage who was different.

He rolled over and threw the blanket over his head, hoping that sleep would come faster so he could forget about Nico for just a moment.

"Meow!"

The cat was tugging at his bedsheets while meowing fervently. Will pushed the blankets off and bent down to pick up the cat and placed it next to his pillow. "I'm going to sleep now," he told the cat, not even caring that it couldn't understand him. It stared at him, its' ears twitching. Will sighed and looked at the ceiling, exhaling slowly and trying to calm himself enough to sleep. Then the cat jumped onto his stomach.

Will yelped, sitting up immediately and pushing the cat off of him. The cat landed on the floor with a thump, and Will looked down to see it staring at him unblinkingly. "Gods," Will mumbled, flopping down onto the bed again. "Why does this happen to me?"

The cat let out a pitiful meow, and Will sighed. He lifted the cat up again and left it on his bedside. "Stay here. No jumping," he told it firmly, pointing at the cat. It tilted its' head and meowed.

He took this as a yes and then curled up once again. The pressure on the bed moved and Will opened his eyes to see that the cat was now resting on the empty side of the pillow. It had curled up but was staring at him, and he found the bottled words spilling out of his mouth before he had the sense to stop himself. "I feel so stupid. I literally confessed my feelings in an aggressive pick-up line to this guy that I've liked for a long time. And he…well now he's missing, and I think it's my fault."

The cats' ears pricked up in attention.

He kept talking like he had no filter. Thankfully his bed was at the very back of the cabin and the only other demigods nearby paid him no heed. "This guy, no, demigod – gods, he's all kinds of beautiful, but he doesn't know it. I met him in camp a few years ago, but I don't think he knows me at all. And I've spent all these years pining after him like a pathetic loser." He laughed self-deprecatingly. The cat mewed softly, putting out a paw to brush against Will's ear. "But a few days ago when he appeared just as we were about to head in to even out the battlefield… He told me he was going to leave both camps forever, and all of my unrequited feelings just started to stomp angrily all over the place." He remembered how he felt when Nico declared that he had no plans to ever return. He had wanted to call a halt to the battle just so he could attempt convincing Nico to stay.

The cat was staring at him curiously through slit pupils, head tilted adorably. "And I selfishly told him to stay, and it worked for a moment," he told the cat. "But then I ruined it – I had to go putting my foot in my mouth by making it obvious that I was interested in him when he clearly didn't reciprocate." He sighed, eyes drifting up to the ceiling. "And now I'm guessing that he and this Roman girl – Reyna – probably started dating when they were travelling back to camp together. Too little, too late, huh?" A bitter smile came to his lips.

The cat took a few tentative steps forward so it was brushing against Will's arm. It rubbed its' head against Will's arm and let out soft mews.

Will resisted the urge to pick up the cat and give it a bone-crushing hug. Nevertheless, it didn't fail to make him smile genuinely. He pet its' back gently to its' rumbling contentment. "What's the point of hating myself over something I never had?" he mused. "From tomorrow on, I am _not_ thinking of Nico – I'm a son of Apollo, not a son of Aphrodite, am I right?" he asked the cat.

It looked up at him and blinked before meowing. Will took that as an absolute yes and a request from the cat to stop talking about such nonsense. With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and dozed off with a small smile still upon his face.

* * *

When Will was shaken awake at eight thirty in the morning, he was surprised that he didn't feel the numbing lethargy seeping through his entire body. Instead of being pestered to help out at the infirmary this time, he was scheduled to help Clarisse demonstrate full armor combat and then instruct a beginner's archery course.

Will pushed the covers off his bed and made his way to brush his teeth, but he stopped in his tracks when he heard the cat's meows.

He turned to see that the cat was standing on his bed and staring at him, tail flicking behind it. The cat must have stayed beside him and slept the whole night. It meowed and took a tentative step forward before stopping and meowing again.

Despite having spent his night taking to the cat, Will could not for the life of him pretend that he understood what it was trying to convey. He stared blankly at it while thinking, _it is way too early in the morning for this_. The cat grew impatient and then leapt off the bed before padding up to Will. It blinked up at him and meowed.

Will decided it was best to just continue his morning routine as usual and ignore the cat that was persistently staying beside him. Finally, he scooped the cat up in his arms and headed out of the cabin to setup for the demonstration. The cat mewed in contentment, curling up happily in Will's arms.

Looks from other demigods were thrown his way when they saw the head counsellor with a black cat in his arms walking through camp. Though they whispered to each other when they saw the odd sight, no one approached him.

Clarisse was already there in her armour and was barking something at the nervous demigods that were watching. Judging from their heights and their baby-faced cheeks, Will assumed these were some of the newer demigod recruits.

"Solace," he heard her call out to him. "You're late."

"No, I'm not," he replied shortly, putting the cat down and heading over to don his armour. "I'm perfectly on point."

He turned to see her roll her eyes. "Whatever. We'll be seeing if you're still all big talk after this match." Before Will could think of a snarky reply to throw fuel into the fire, Clarisse's attention was seized by the small black cat. "What is _that_?"

Will blinked, looking over to see that the cat had sat down on the floor far away from the rest of the other demigods. At Clarisse's words, they all looked over at the cat. Its' ears twitched from the sudden attention, and it hissed at the younger demigods who seemed fascinated by its appearance. "It's…the cat I found yesterday?" Will answered, unsure of what Clarisse was trying to say.

"Yeah, I know that, _genius_ ," Clarisse scoffed. "I mean _why_ are you bringing it along with you like it's a pet and this is a shopping mall? Leave it in your cabin. It's only going to distract them." She nodded in the direction of the demigods who were watching the two of them.

He didn't have a good answer for that. In reality, he wasn't quite sure _why_ he brought along the cat, only that he felt comforted by its' presence. He feigned indifference and shrugged. "Do I need a reason to bring it along? And it's not going to distract them if you focus enough to do a good enough job," he said, grinning as he drew her attention away from the cat by throwing in the topic of her abilities in there.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes. "With the way you were going on about Reyna and Nico yesterday, I think you're the one who needs some focus." She chortled, and Will felt a flicker of irrational anger build at her words and the implications.

She did _not_ just go there. Without warning, Will threw himself at Clarisse, jabbing his sword forward to strike at her weak spot. Unfortunately, Clarisse had already seen it coming and blocked his attack with a parry that almost knocked him over. She didn't give him time to recover and her unrelenting strikes were upon him within moments. He managed to parry her attacks, but the strength of her blows eventually forced him to drop the weapon. Will gritted his teeth – he had let her manipulate him to his weakest and now he was paying the price. But he'd be making it too easy if he gave up now. He dropped and avoided her next strike and grabbed his fallen sword. Holding onto his weapon, he rolled away from her in hopes of getting far away enough to stand up and prepare himself again.

When he got up again and held his sword, he then noticed that the match had gone ludicrously wrong.

The demigods watching them were now pointing at Clarisse while laughing and shouting. He turned his eyes over to Clarisse to see the older demigod cursing and trying to pull something off of her head without tearing off her own hair in the process.

Will realized that the 'thing' on her head was a hissing, black cat. It was sitting obstinately at the top of her head and hissing down at the demigod while she screeched at it to get off. The sight of it would have been hilarious if Will wasn't technically in charge of dealing with the cat.

"Hey, kitty! Cat!" Yeah, he probably should have named the cat at one point. "Cat! Get off of Clarisse!" When his frantic arm waving and yelling heeded no results, Will took up Plan B. He brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled hard, bringing the demigods to their knees with his eardrum shattering whistle.

The cat was no longer hissing and was now blinking in a somewhat confused manner. Will took this chance to head over and gently pull the cat off of Clarisse's head.

Will looked over at the startled demigods. "So, uh," he began hesitantly with a nervous smile. "Lesson of the day: always wear helmets, kids!" With that advice firmly in place, Will dropped off his armour and rushed out of the place with the cat mewing happily in his arms before Clarisse could call him back and lecture him for using unconventional tactics.

He made it to the archery range about fifty minutes too early. There were a couple of older demigods there practicing. Annabeth was upon him before he could even settle down and watch them. "Will," she said, seemingly right behind him. He held back a yelp and turned around quickly to see the demigod looking at him with pity that he didn't need. Immediately he knew that she was here to talk about his outburst in the Big House yesterday. Gods, he wished he could take those words back. "Look, about yesterday, I think you were misunderstanding something –"

"No! I'm fine! Absolutely! Fine, that is," Will said, failing at trying to seem nonchalant. He really didn't need to be talking about his problems with Annabeth of all people.

She sighed, seeing right through his guise. "I know you're worried about Nico," Annabeth said. "And I know you're probably feeling hurt because it looks like he left you for someone else. Believe me, I know how you feel." She grimaced as if she were reminiscing something. "But I can assure you that Nico didn't leave on his own and is definitely not hiding out with Reyna in the Roman camp, even if he had before."

The words didn't make him feel any better. "How do you know he's not in the Roman camp?" he questioned, failing once again at trying to seem casual. His tone had taken on a slightly aggressive one, and Will cleared his throat as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat down.

Annabeth tried to hide the smile that had made an appearance on her lips. "Well," she began, the grin breaking out widely. "Right after Gaea was defeated, Nico came to talk with me and Percy and –"

The cat meowed loudly, scratching lightly at Will's arms until he was forced to drop it. It landed on the ground gracefully and continued meowing loudly between Annabeth and Will. The two demigods stopped to stare at the cat in confusion before Will had the sense to scoop the cat up in his arms again. "Sorry – I don't know what's up with it," he said contritely.

Annabeth was frowning at the cat now, and Will hoped that she wasn't considering throwing it to Peleus the dragon, especially when Clarisse would tell her about the fiasco that happened today. He held the cat closer to him and it meowed quietly in protest.

"Could I get a closer look at that cat?" she asked him, and he founding himself obliging, holding the cat out toward Annabeth. However, when her hands reached out for it, the cat hissed and squirmed in Will's hands as it tried to escape.

He immediately pulled the cat away from her. "Sorry, I wouldn't want the cat to injure you," he said.

She was squinting at it now. "Say, where did you find this cat again?"

"In the forest," he said hesitantly, not liking the direction the conversation was taking. "One of the kids found it there yesterday, but no one's ever seen a colony of cats living there."

Annabeth hummed, seeming deep in thought now. "According to the current given evidence…," she was mumbling. After a few seconds of deep thought, her eyes brightened. "I got it," she told Will. "I know where Nico is. I should have known all along really because how far could a weakened fourteen-year-old boy get? There were only a few possibilities, really, but I ignored it because it didn't seem plausible –"

"Where is he?" Will asked, completely forgetting about his resolve not to make his life revolve around Nico. "Is he safe?"

Annabeth blinked and looked at Will like she had suddenly realized that he was not at the same pace as she was. "Of course he's safe. He's in your arms, isn't he?"

Will felt himself turn red with embarrassment at her words, and he was about to tell her to stop making fun of him before the cat meowed pitifully.

He looked down to see the black cat looking at him with wide eyes and almost dropped it. _What even?_

"Nico?" he finally managed asked the cat in astonishment. His voice came out small and almost breathless much to his dismay.

The cat – Nico – meowed back in response.

 **TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter** Summary:The imagery was too much. Will buried his hands in his face, obscuring his vision of Nico for a second and trying to calm his racing heart down. He felt so absolutely ridiculous that he wondered why even Hephaestus wasn't coming down from his residence to laugh at Will's misfortunate blunders.

 **Status:** Chapter 3 of 3

 **Author's Note:** Late because of my gaming addictions. I am so sorry.

 _warning for mentions of (non-canon/imaginary) Thalico_

* * *

"What is this?" Will exclaimed, holding the cat – Nico – in front of him at arm's length. It – _he_ meowed dejectedly in response and Will was faced with the terrifying truth.

Nico had heard his love confession.

Nico had _slept in bed with him_.

Nico _knew_. If the boy had any hesitations about Will's feelings for him, he certainly knew the answer now.

 _Why is this my life_ , Will thought while he stared at the cat blankly. The shock of it had reduced him to speechlessness and ineptitude. Nico blinked at him, and he wondered what Nico was thinking. He wasn't used to reading the emotions of a cat. "I'm going to put you down now," Will said, his tone carefully neutral as he placed the cat gently down on the ground. He was fighting the desperate urge to tuck his tail between his legs and run for the hills without looking back.

Nico looked up at Will and meowed, not moving from his place. He tilted his head in a quizzical manner – or what Will thought was quizzical.

Annabeth was ignorant to Will's sudden tentativeness. "So, do you have any possible idea why Nico is suddenly a cat? As Percy has mentioned numerous times, you were the last person he was seen speaking with."

Will's mouth was still dry. "Uh…" He cleared his throat a few times, looking away from the cat on the ground and to the oblivious demigods practicing with the archery targets. How he wished that he could erase these last few days from his life and continue with his erratic sleep cycle. "I have no idea," he finished lamely, unable to even offer a suggestion to find the source behind this mess.

The older demigod turned her attention to Nico who was sitting quietly (or sullenly, Will thought) on the ground between them. "Nico, do you know who did this to you? And if you do, could you give us an idea of who's behind it?"

Nico's ears perked up. The small cat stood up on all fours and started to walk in the direction of the cabins. He turned around and meowed at them, impatiently flicking his tail while he waited for the two of them to follow him.

Annabeth and Will hurried after Nico whom had resumed walking. "I should have known that one of the gods had something to do with this," Annabeth was muttering to herself. Will, on the other hand, was silent – split between feeling sorry for himself and sorry for Nico. He didn't know who he felt worse for – the guy who accidentally confessed his feeling about someone to a cat that then turned out to be the said someone or the guy who got turned into a cat and then shoved in close quarters with the person he had wanted to avoid in the first place.

Yeah, definitely the latter, he thought bitterly.

* * *

It must have been an odd sight for the demigods that were walking within the circle of cabins to see Annabeth and Will playing follow the leader with a black cat, but they were smart enough not to comment on it.

Finally, Nico slowed to a stop in front of cabin number eight. Decorated with paintings of animals, the cabin fit snugly beside Will's own cabin.

"Uh…," Will began, not fully comprehending what Artemis may have to do with Nico's transformation. That, and his brain still wasn't working at it proper capacity due to the earlier shock of the cat's true identity. He turned to look at Annabeth, who was staring up at the cabin with squinted eyes and her hand pressed against her chin in thought.

"There are two possibilities," Annabeth said, giving Will a verbal version of what had gone on in her head. "One: her Hunters, two: Artemis herself. However, the most likely scenarios for both possibilities involves Nico angering them in some way leading to being cursed into the form of a cat. It also doesn't help that Nico is also male."

Whichever it was, Will wanted Nico back to normal even if Nico never wanted to look at him ever again. "How do we turn him back?" he asked her.

She frowned and then said, "Since we don't know the exact cause, there's no way to change him back." Before Will could feel anymore crestfallen than he already was, Annabeth continued. "But we could contact Artemis or one of her Hunters…"

Will already felt apprehension at her words. "If you haven't noticed, I'm also a male," he told her. "And I would also like to stay as an alive human male, thank you very much."

"I don't mean for you to beg _Artemis_ to turn Nico back. I was thinking more of asking Apollo to pitch in and figure out what was going on. You certainly can't get an audience with Artemis or her audience without something terrible befalling you, but I don't think too many of the Hunters are willing to have an audience with me either at the moment," Annabeth admitted.

Will grimaced. Interesting idea but… "No dice," Will informed her. "My dad's been AWOL since the war, and he hasn't answered any of us."

Understanding flashed in Annabeth's eyes. "Right…," she said, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand. "How could I forget," she murmured just loud enough for Will to hear. Before he could ask her what she was talking about, she continued speaking. "I'll try to talk to Thalia Grace of the Hunters," Annabeth decided. "If it's one of the Hunters, maybe she'll know something. And some of the Aphrodite kids have always said that she was close to Nico for reasons unknown." She shrugged, but Will suddenly felt like he was plunged in ice-cold water – again. "Take care of Nico. I'll go alert the self-proclaimed search and rescue team and then IM Thalia."

Will nodded dumbly and watched Annabeth's retreating back as she headed out of the cabins area and for the Big House.

So now it wasn't just Nico and Reyna, it was Nico and _Thalia_. He barely even knew Thalia except for that one very brief meeting during the Titan War, which felt like ages ago. He had also never heard of this 'Nico and Thalia' rumour before until today. If he had, then he definitely wouldn't have been going around mentally pushing the son of Hades against the school lockers and aggressively asking him out to the homecoming dance.

(Fine, it didn't exactly go down like _that_ , but it sure felt like that now.)

He needed to go lie down for a day or two. Maybe even a week. A month would probably be better. Before he could make the plan a reality, he heard a loud meow and looked down to see the black cat nudging his legs and looking up at him.

"What do you need, Nico?" he asked him, trying to keep his voice clinical and detached. He failed miserably when the tremor in his voice gave him away. Nico blinked up at him expressionlessly, and Will fought the urge to run away like a scared coward.

He knelt down, picking up Nico by his sides. Now that he knew that the cat was _Nico_ and not just some random wild cat, he felt more timid and unstable. He was _touching_ Nico, despite the fact that the demigod was a fluffy cat right now. And gods, that meant Nico wasn't wearing _anything_. He was the cat equivalent of _nude_ and Will was touching him and they weren't even at first base yet, or even on the field at all –

 _Okay, Will Solace, calm down_ , he scolded himself. _Don't overthink this. He is a cat. Maybe the transformation changed his brain structure and this feels completely normal to him right now. That's why he's not as adverse to touch as to when he was human._

Right. Will took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

"So, Nico. What do you want to do today?"

* * *

It turned out that he had wanted to eat, which made sense because he hadn't seen the cat eat at all. If this were any normal cat, he would have ordered some cat food and let him have an all you can eat buffet. Somehow, Will knew that this memory wouldn't settle well with Nico once he was human again and decided to order something more close to human food.

Now Nico was feasting happily upon a pile of cooked fish outside of the Big House. Percy had thought that it was a horrific idea, seeing as fishes belonged in his father's domain, but Will already vetoed the idea of giving Nico dried pellets of cat food.

He stared at Nico as he ate, which might have looked creepy if Nico were human. But Will's mind wasn't on the scene in front of him right now. It was miles away, imagining situations between Nico and Thalia or Nico and Reyna.

Nico had met Thalia and Percy first, after all. Maybe he had developed a crush on the older girl and the Aphrodite cabin caught on some lingering emotions. (They were never wrong when they said that someone was infatuated – it was usually just a matter of _whom_ where they got their facts confused.) And then when Thalia went to join the Hunters, Nico had taken on his characteristic moody sullenness.

It all made sense now – why he had a brief memory of a happy-go-lucky Nico who was a little geeky and eager. Along with the passing away of his sister, Thalia leaving must have added to the pain and that was why he disappeared for bouts of time and his entire personality flipped.

Then he found Reyna whose only downside seemed to be that she lived on the other side of the States and was Roman. It felt kind of like a Shakespeare worthy star-crossed love story without the iambic pentameter. _Two camps, both alike in dignity. / In fair America, where we lay our scene…_

And Will was the crazed audience member who jumped onto the stage and tried to kiss Romeo much to the horror of the spectators watching the train wreck.

The imagery was too much. Will buried his hands in his face, obscuring his vision of Nico for a second and trying to calm his racing heart down. He felt so absolutely ridiculous that he wondered why even Hephaestus wasn't coming down from his residence to laugh at Will's misfortunate blunders.

He sighed heavily, feeling more dramatic by the moment and then removed his hands from his face. Nico was looking up at him in a curiously, and Will wished that he had the ability to understand animals. He had no idea what Nico thought about his love confession and his ridiculous feelings, but he didn't really want the demigod to tell him in words either. He didn't think he could stand the rejection. Maybe they could just start ignoring each other after this.

Nico abandoned his half-finished pile of fish and padded up to the sitting boy slowly, like he was afraid Will was the one who would run away at any moment. It brought an unbidden smile to his lips and he held out one of his hands toward him. Nico rubbed his head against Will's palm happily, ears perking up and tail wrapping around himself. It was unfair – he was too… _adorable_ for Will to snap out of this infatuation. Nico curled up on the ground and purred happily, urging Will to pet him until his breathing grew into steady slumber.

Will was about to carry the cat inside of the Big House and find a place for him to rest, but then he thought about how noisy it was in there at the moment. After Annabeth had told the others that Nico was very safe, but also very much a cat, the head counsellors had been in an uproar. (Clovis wanted to pet him – Will stopped him before Nico could take his eyes out with those sharp claws.)

He decided it was best to just leave him in his cabin, where Nico had rested fine the night before. After dropping off Nico the cat, he headed out to supervise the afternoon and nighttime camp activities with his mind still rampantly running about with thoughts of Nico, Thalia, Reyna, and his own embarrassing confession.

* * *

An auburn-hair woman with cold silver eyes was standing in front of him, observing him silently. The scenery around him was nondescript – every time he tried to locate where he was, his memory simply left him and he was forced to focus on the woman. Her hair was held up, and her gossamer dress was a soft tint of silver in contrast to the harshness of her eyes. He was awed and frightened at the same time, feeling an urge to avert his eyes in respect.

"Son of Apollo," she said, her voice soft but seeming to echo all around him. "I had a feeling it would come down to this."

Will wasn't sure how to deal with formalities but decided that if the legends about Actaeon and Sipriotes were true, then he would rather be safe than sorry. He knelt down, as he murmured, "Hello, Artemis." His own voice sounded stiff to his ears. He stood up again and straightened. "I just have a quick question," he began hesitantly. When she nodded, Will spoke, "Why are you here in my dream?"

He definitely remembered plopping face down on his bed after leading a sing-along that he wasn't into and falling asleep immediately. Now he was here. Will didn't have many clairvoyant dreams often like other demigods, so he was disorientated at first.

"Long story short: I am temporary in charge of dealing with the requests and yearnings of Apollo's children much to my chagrin due to my brother's typical actions," she said in distaste. "And your thoughts are the most disruptive out of the bunch."

Will apologized automatically upon hearing those words. "I'm sorry."

Artemis gave him a look he couldn't decipher and he swallowed, hoping that she wasn't going to turn him into a jackalope. She continued speaking a little more slowly this time. "The boy you were so focused on was dying," she said and Will's heart leapt to his throat. "I have found the means to cure him, but nothing comes without a price."

Will couldn't help the laugh of nervousness that bubbled out of him. _But I didn't ask for him to be turned into a cat. That is not called curing_ , he resisted saying. When Artemis gave him another look, he looked down and cleared his throat. "So, what would that price be?" Will asked, hoping that it wasn't something hefty.

"Do not worry, son of Apollo. It is already done. He remains as one of my lunar creatures for the time being. Once his body has ridden of the darkness, he will return to his former self."

That sounded surprisingly simple, but… "How long would that take?" he blurted out without thinking. He clammed his mouth shut immediately, hoping that it didn't annoy her.

"As long as it needs to," Artemis said. "Now that I have answered all of your questions, please do keep in mind to quiet down the racket going on in your head and the subconscious prayers you throw at Apollo, and subsequently me."

"One more question," Will said, unable to help himself. When she scowled at him, he made his question quick. "Will Nico remember everything that happened to him as a cat when he turns human again?"

Artemis narrowed her eyes at him. "Of course," she told him. "He's a cat, not inept."

There was no hope now. Will nodded, forcing a smile that came out as a grimace. "Well. Thanks, Artemis," he said, sounding not very thankful at all. His brain told him to rectify his tone, but he couldn't find the heart in him to care. Now Nico really was going to never talk to him ever again.

However, the goddess seemed satisfied. "If that is all, son of Apollo. I will be leaving now." Before he could get another word in, she disappeared from sight and the unconsciousness of sleep blanketed over him.

* * *

He had his arms around something warm. It was pressing back against him, pressure placed pleasantly on the place above his waist. Only half-awake, Will sighed happily and inched closer to the warmth, hugging it closer to himself.

His mind slowly brought itself out of the sleepy daze, and he blinked his eyes blearily open to be greeted with the sight of Nico di Angelo's sleeping face.

The reaction was immediate: he yelped, pushing himself off the other boy and falling down the bed onto the hard floor in process. He bit back a cry of pain as his elbows slammed against the hardwood floor. He had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Like the fact that Nico was _fully human in his bed. What in the name of the gods._

When Artemis had given her answer, Will had thought it would be a little while before this would happen. Gods – was Nico even _dressed_? Will wanted and didn't want to know at the same time. He stayed sitting resolutely on the floor, wondering what he could even _say_ to Nico to make this okay.

Actually, nothing was going to make this okay. He had to face that truth and finally took a deep breath and looked back up at the bed.

Nico had made his way over to his side of the bed and was staring at the cabin counsellor with sleepy eyes. "Good morning, Will," he said with a yawn. Will almost jumped back at how close they were, but forced himself to stay put. From here, he could see the collar of the orange camp T-shirt. He let out a sigh of relief – Nico was dressed, from waist up at least.

"Um, morning, Nico," Will began, unable to keep the jumpiness out of his tone. He had no idea why Nico was acting so casually when he had woken up tangled in bed with the guy who had made unwitting advances on him. "So I see that you're human now," he said, laughing nervously.

"It seems that I am," Nico murmured, pulling himself to a sitting position. Pants – he was wearing pants. Will felt like he could breathe a little better now. "I had a strange encounter with Artemis that rendered me a cat," he told Will while he rubbed his eyes.

Will looked up at the demigod, his heart thumping. Nico was too freaking _adorable_ sometimes, and Will just couldn't deal with it. He wanted to hug Nico and run away from him at the same time. He finally forced himself to look away at the ground. This was not for him. Nico was not his. He had no right to be doing this.

"So I guess you're heading over to Reyna's now, right?" Will asked, trying his keep his tone cheerful but it came out sulky and gods, _just why_.

Nico's eyes snapped opened and he stared at Will in bewilderment. He opened his mouth to speak but then he narrowed his eyes, and Will felt like he was watching a train wreck happening. Nico was remembering everything – from that little girl demigod who tried to grab him, to Will freaking out about Reyna at the Big House, to his ill-timed love confession.

This was going to get bad.

"I'll go tell the others that you're okay now!" Will exclaimed with very false brightness. His face was entirely red of embarrassment, and he didn't think he could stay here without just dying from it. He stood up with only the goal of getting the heck away from his cabin before something bad could happen, but Nico stopped him with a surprisingly strong grip on his wrist.

"Will," Nico said, and gods, the sound of Nico saying his name so tenderly almost reduced him to tears at this point. He felt so pathetic that he wanted to wretch his wrist from him and run into the rain like a misunderstood main character in a rom-com movie. "I'm not interested in Reyna."

Will looked at Nico and blinked, suddenly rendered thoughtless. "Huh?"

Nico seemed like he was trying to hold back a smile but couldn't contain it. It broke free, spreading across his face as he looked at the demigod. Nico was standing up now and was all too close to Will. He swallowed, feeling heat rise to his cheeks and he looked down at the floor between them.

"I wasn't leaving the camp to see Reyna and happen to stumble upon Artemis," Nico told him. "I was…feeling very ill. Artemis came to me in a dream and I woke up as a four-legged creature. Believe me, Will, I was very glad when you came into the forest."

"You heard everything," Will finally managed to whisper. "The whole thing with me flipping out about Reyna – then my freaky confession about you – and this morning. Oh gods." If he could disappear right now, he would. His face was flamed from embarrassment, and he couldn't even look up from the floor.

"Yes, I did," Nico said, his voice surprisingly pleasant. "And I was surprised to know the depth of your feelings, but I was also very happy. I didn't know you thought that I was…beautiful." He cleared his throat a little but there was a smile behind his voice. "I didn't mind about this morning either," he confessed.

Will finally glanced up to see that Nico was looking equally embarrassed but smiling all the same. He held his breath for a second and then asked, "Can I kiss you?" He sounded like an inexperienced little boy, but Nico didn't seem to mind at all.

"Yes," Nico said a little breathily, and Will could have laughed at how rom-com they really sounded, but he didn't really care at the moment. All that mattered was Nico, and not Reyna, or Thalia, or any other cabin mates that had be roused awake and were now either pointing at them and gasping or carefully averting their eyes and putting headphones over their ears.

When they pulled apart for a breath, Will was smiling brightly for the first time in days. His heart felt lighter, and his arms was full of Nico the human, not the cat. "So," he asked him a little shyly, even though Nico's smile was already an indication of his answer. "Wanna go for breakfast together?"

Nico leaned forward to place a shy peck on his lips that left them both flushing red. "Of course."

 **-end**

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Reviews would be wonderful :)

short-note to say that I'm working on a multi-chapter solangelo HS AU. If you're interested in beta-reading or advance-reading or something along those lines, please PM me here or my main tumblr! (ensemble-of-dolphins)


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